Movie Reviews

Definately a must own!!

Mitch Weaver | Houston, TX | 06/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quinn Mallory ( Jerry O Connel)is trying to create an anti-gravity device and accidentally creates a device that opens up a portal. His physics professor Maximillian P. Arturo (John Rhys-Davies), and his girlfriend Wade Wells (Sabrina Lloyd) want to accompany Quinn through the portal to see where it leads. A washed up singer named Rembrant Brown (Cleavant Derricks)is also accidentally dragged along for the ride, when he is walking buy and sucked through the portal with them. Quinn and the rest of the group "slide" to another dimension of earth. The Sliders soon realize that they would much rather return back to their own dimension, but things are not that easy. Once you have entered through the portal, you have to keep traveling to different dimensions of earth to find the right one that will lead back home. Each episode deals with Quinn, Professor Arturo, Wade, and Rembrant exploring each dimension to find their way back to their own dimension. Unfortunately, once the Sliders have entered a particular dimension, there is only a limited amount of time to reopen the portal, and there are only a few select places within each dimension they can do it from. Finding the right place to open the portal is often a challenge to the group because each dimension is different than their own, and can be life threatening at times.I have heard people often refer to Sliders as a rip off of Quantum Leap. While Quantum Leap was a better show, Sliders is completely different. Quinn, Professor Arturo, Wade, and Rembrant are not traveling through time. They are traveling through other dimensions of earth that differ from their own. This is what makes the show so great, because it is very interesting to see how each dimension will be different than the next. The show also offers tons of suspense. There is a "race against the clock" type feel due to the fact that the group only has a limited amount of time to find one of the few places within the dimension they can "slide" from. Jerry O Connel and the rest of the cast were excellent in their roles, and it is their performances that make the show so entertaining, especially the performance given from Cleavant Derricks as Rembrant Brown. The funniest thing about his character, is that Rembrant never asked to go with them, and was dragged along accidentally. So he often complains about each situation which usually provides for a lot of laughs.Unfortunately, Sliders did not manage to stay great for the entire run of the show. I have to agree with many of the fans and say that the show went seriously downhill during season three when Professor Arturo left the show. Seasons four and five would become even worse, because the show left FOX to air on the Sci-Fi channel, and by the end of the show, Rembrant was the only original character left. However, the first two seasons of Sliders are what make the show rank among the top of any television show in the sci-fi genre. The best thing about this DVD package, is the fact that you get the two best seasons of the show in one set. While it is a shame that the extras are somewhat limited, this set is worth owning just for the episodes themselves.A solid 5 stars..."

Same Planet Different Dimension

Kevin G. Pitchford | Augusta,Ga | 05/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though the first two seasons are the best, I enjoyed them
all. And it's about time this set is coming out.
Here are my personal grades and info on the episodes from
the first two seasons.Here is what you get with the first two seasons.1. The Pilot Part 1 ( still the best episode) Quinn first discovers that his sliding technology works. Then he tells the proffesor who at first does not believe him. But later comes around. Along with Wade Wells the three of them test out sliding. But when doing so they accidentaly pull in soul singer
Rembrant Brown.( Episode Grade A+ )2. Pilot Part 2 ( The sliders find San Fran. under an ice age,
and The U.S under Soviet Communist rule. ( Episode Grade A+ )3.Fever ( The sliders travel to a world that has never developed Antibiotics.Evereyone around them is sick so they must do something before time runs out.(Episode Grade A-)4.Last Days ( Sliders find a world where an asteroid is about to destroy the earth. The professor saves the day by showing
a fellow scientist how to build a nuke.( Episode grade A+ )5.Prince of Wails ( In this world America is still under England's Colonial rule.( Episode Grade B )6. Summer Of Love ( Sliders find alternate world where We are
at war with Austraila and Remy replaces his dead alternate self
as husband to a old high school crush. ( Episode grade C+ )7.Eggheads ( In this world intellectuals are treated like athletes, and Quinn competes in A weird sport that tests your intellect. ( Episode grade B- )8. The Weaker Sex ( Sliders enter a world where women are the dominant sex. Arturo makes men believe that they are equals when he runs for office. (ep grade A- )9.The King Is Back ( Sliders find a world where Rembrant is treated like Elvis. ( Ep grade B- )10.Luck Of The Draw- (Sliders find a world where money is free if you play the lottery. But the catch is you must give your life in a form of population control.(Ep Grade A+ )Season 211. Into The Mystic ( Sliders enter a world of witchcraft.
Quinn is sick and gets healed by a witchdoctor. Quinn refuses
to pay and the Grim Reaper himself serves Quinn a subpeona.
ep.( Grade A+ )12.Love Gods ( Quinn,Arturo,Rembrant are in a world with a shortage of men. They are being used as studs to repopulate.
( grade B+13.Gillian Of The Spirits (Quinn is stuck on an astral plane,
and only a psyhcic girl can see him. ( grade B-14.The Good The Bad And the Wealthy ( Sliders enter a world not unlike the wild west. Where stocks are exchanged through gunfights. ( grade A- )15. El Sid ( Sliders find a world where the city of San Francisco is a prison. ( grade A+ )16.Time and Again World ( Sliders enter world where there is no
U.S. Constitution to be found except on one little floppy disk.
( grade A+ )17. In Dino Veritas ( Sliders enter a dinosaur wild life reserve) ( grade A- )18. Post-Traumatic Slide Syndrome ( The sliders think they are home. Rembrant then goes to a psyhciatrist and discovers they are not. ( grade B+ )19. Obsession ( Sliders find world where everyone can read minds.
( grade B- )20. Greatfellas ( Sliders find world where the mob controls evereything. ( grade C+ )21. The Young and The Relentless ( Sliders slide into the backyard of an alternate Quinn and Wade. In this world the young
rule and at a certain age you lose your rights.
( grade B- )22. Invasion ( Sliders first encounter with the Kromags and unfortunatley not the last. Though this is a quality episode.
The writers seemed to use it too much in later episodes.
( grade B- )23.As time goes by ( On this episode thse sliders slide 3 times.
Quinn tries to prevent a murder. And the Sliders find time is moving backwards. ( grade A- )Overall This is a great package with or without extras. We
will have to wait and see what Universal adds.Finally I can get rid of those tapes."

Into the Vortex

Sean Roberts | St.James. Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies | 08/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What if you could travel to parallel worlds? The same year, the same Earth, only different dimension. A world where the Russians rule America? Or where your dreams of being superstar came true? Or where San Francisco was a maximum security prison. My friends and I found the gateway. Now the problem is... finding a way back home.

Buy this box set and see what happens, the set comprises the 2 hour Pilot, 8 Season One and 13 Season Two episodes.

The first two seasons of the series were the best and most thought provoking of the entire series, they examined how a different outcome in major historical events (such as who won World War 2, the non discovery of anti-biotics or the Atom Bomb) could have resulted in a very different present day earth. The main focus was on a group of 4 Inter Dimensional travelers trying to find their earth while randomly 'sliding' between alternate realities (parallel earths), with no control over how long they stayed in the respective dimension. They were also burdened with the fact that if they did not leave when their 'Timer' reached zero they were stuck on that reality for 29 years.

My Gripes on the box set:

1) The packaging:While the foam holder gives the appearance of multiple earths which is a nice effect, it is a terrible idea for medium to long term storage. That type of foam 'breaks down' over time and eventually won't be able to hold the DVDs in place, in addition it makes it difficult to replace the plastic case as ther is no space between the foam and inside of the box. A 'REAL' booklet should also have provided instead of the 2-page booklet glued to the back of the box which holds an episode list and ads for other Universal TV titles.

2) The order of the episodes on the DVD:Fox did not originally air the episodesin the intended order and several of the early season one episodes actually connected if you view them properly. "Summer of Love" begins with the Sliders wearing the clothes they had on at the end of the pilot movie. "Prince of Wails" begins with the Sliders wearing the same clothes they wore at the end of "Summer of Love" (not to mention that it begins with a pay off to the "Summer of Love" cliffhanger ending. I believe if you are going through the trouble of putting out a box set then you should do it RIGHT.

The correct viewing order for Sliders is as follows -

Pilot (2 hour)

1st Season 1995 (Fox)

Summer of LovePrince of WailsFeverLast DaysThe Weaker SexEggheadsThe King is BackLuck of the Draw

2nd Season Spring 1996

Into the MysticTime Again and WorldEl SidLove GodsThe Good, the Bad and the WealthyAs Time Goes ByGillian of the SpiritsObsessionInvasionPost-Traumatic Slide SyndromeIn Dino VeritasGreatfellasThe Young and the Relentless

Though not a perfect series as there were a bunch of inconsistencies and fall off in quality in later seasons, it is a good buy and Season 1 & 2 deserves high praise as they were exceptional and worth collecting."

Good Show, Good DVD

Ryan Anonymus | Olympia, WA | 09/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always thought that this show had a great concept to it. Four people traveling from one parellel universe to another, the same city, but different realities.

I was about 12 years old when this show premiered, I remember my family always watched it. I had a short attention span, and would find something else better to do when the commercial breaks came. This is my chance to catch all these beginning episodes, and with the original casts too.

By the time I actually sat down to watch entire episodes, as a kid when the show was new, the professor character: Arturo was leaving the show (halfway through season three). He was, and still is, my favorite character on the show. That was a bummer. After buying this DVD set, I've really enjoyed the episodes.

Now these episodes on the discs aren't in the order that they were intended to be. When the show aired, the production company decided to play the episodes in the order that they wanted to. Certain websites you can find online can give you the proper order. One good example of the episodes being out of order is in season one: an episode starts out with San Francisco being underwater, then two episodes later: a giant tidal wave hits the city. Yeah.

These 23 episodes definally were the golden age of the series. Two episodes from the end of season two ("Invasion"), we are introduced to the Slider characters' enemies, the Kromaggs. A group of people that occur throughout the rest of the series from that point. Many people (including myself) thought that the idea of giving the Sliders an enemy was a stupid idea. Especially the cast of the show! These Kromagg characters were actually the reason that the actor who plays Professor Arturo left the series in season three. It's been said that the actor gives a very poor performance in the Kromaggs first episode "Invasion" out of protest. And the rest of the cast are none too pleased either.

So see how the show started in the Pilot episode. See what the Sliders did in that first episode that made it so their chance of getting home in very slim. Also in this set, see what happens when the Sliders actually do get home."

4 1/2 stars for Seasons 1 & 2

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 08/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bread crumbs. Even Hansel and Gretel knew to leave those behind but, of course, the birds ate them so, perhaps it might not have helped Quinn Mallory to leave a trail behind. If he had done so in the pilot there wouldn't have been a series and that's what it's all about. "Sliders" arrived on the scene and immediately faced critical barbs. Some folks accused it of being a rip off of "Quantum Leap". It wasn't any more a rip off than "Babylon 5" was a rip off of "Star Trek". They both used unique devices to let their characters travel to different situations.

Quinn Mallory accidently discovers a key to opening wormholes when he creates a device to defy gravity. Unfortunately, he, Wade (Sabrina Lloyd), his physics professor (John Rhys-Davies) and a washed up r&b singer named Rembrandt (Clevant Derrick)who happens to be passing by on his way to sing at an San Francisco Giants game get sucked into the wormhole when a power surge causes it to go out of control.

They discover that there are other worlds with intelligent life. Most of those other worlds are alternate Earths that have followed very different paths than our world. Unfortunately, Quinn has no way for them to get back home so they must keep sliding (the portals open on an unpredictable time schedule allowing them only so many hours in each world)from alternate universe to alternate universe hoping they'll eventually slide home.

Created by Tracy Torme (who was a staff writer on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and for trivia buffs the son of singer Mel Torme)and Robert Weiss, the series started off with a lot of potential. Although the quality varied a bit from year to year, the best stories were always interesting and the performances were, for the most part, very convincing.

We get the shortened first and second season here in a box that is packaged in a half cardboard half clear plastic box with the DVDs suspended by a foam core. It creates the illusion that they're suspected in the middle with out any means of support. It looks quite cool. The picture quality is very good with few blemishes and the sound has exceptional mastering as well. I didn't detect a lot of compression or distortion. So the show looks great and tastes great, too.

The extras are lean. We get a featurette on the making of the show and a stills gallery but that's about it. On the back is a one sheet with info on the DVD when you fold it out it has an episode guide but without any cast listing or crew credits. When yo pop in each disc and select an episode you get an on screen symposis similar to that on the "Quantum Leap" first season set. I have to give Universal praise for putting both the first and second season in one set (unlike "Quantum Leap") although the price is a bit high especially when compared to another release from the same day, "Knight Rider". That set retails for about 1/3 less than "Sliders" and it has more features (although the design of the box isn't quite as sharp). Clearly Universal has the impression that this series is going to appeal to a cult audience and, as such, as tried to make it as attractive looking as possible.

We only get a commentary track on the pilot by Torme and Weiss. While it's interesting and provides fascinating tidbits about pre-production, production and post-production problems the crew ran into, I would also have liked to hear from the original cast members as well. The show has aged surprisingly well although not all the CGI effects have held up but then again that's true of most movies and television shows. The CGI effects work at moving the story forward and that's their purpose. I would have liked to have a featurette on the CGI visual effects, more commentary on the various directions the show took over time, etc. Perhaps that'll be on the next couple of sets.

While I like the unique design, the box can be a bit of a pain to put back together and it might not withstand wear and tear as much simpler sets. I'd suggest buying a couple of amray DVD containers and putting them in there and keeping your box as a colletible. It almost looks cool enough to put on display.

There's been lots of discussion about the varied quality of the show over the years. It doesn't matter. The best episodes are worth viewing again and again. Although there might be more memorable ones in this set than another, there's always something memorable about even the weakest episode of the series. Pick it up today but try to avoid paying retail full price if you can.